BUSINESS BRIEF

Ice jams on Great Lakes slows down shipping

INDIANAPOLIS — U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard crews kept up their battle Monday to clear pathways for vessels hauling vital raw materials on the ice-clogged Great Lakes, where a shipping logjam forced a weeklong shutdown of the nation’s largest steel factory.

Icebreaking ships slogging across Lake Superior were still encountering ice layers 2 feet to 3 feet thick. In some areas, wind and wave action created walls of ice up to 14 feet high.

United States Steel Corp.’s plant in Gary, Ind., had resumed limited operations after receiving a shipment over the weekend of iron ore from a mill near Detroit, spokesman Courtney Boone said. Two ships were slated to arrive today with ore from mines in northern Minnesota after a two-week voyage across Lake Superior. The trip usually takes three days.

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